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#shortdrama
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#shortdrama
#full hd movies
#engsub
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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00At 12, he saw his family slaughtered. Only one girl saved him.
00:0415 years later, he's the city's most ruthless godfather.
00:08He's ready to kill his enemy's daughter, only to find out she's his fiancée.
00:1412 candles burn.
00:16Make a wish, my boy.
00:18I look at the 12 flames. I already know.
00:21I wish to lead the Orsini family and rule the city with you, Dad.
00:26Laughter and applause abound. Glasses raised. Dad presses the ice wolf crest into my palm.
00:31If your mother were here, she'd be so proud.
00:35Orsini, hold the blood, carry the name.
00:40The hall answers with one, then the world comes apart.
00:43The guest beside me drops without a sound.
00:45Blood hits the tablecloth, the silk, my face.
00:47While the screaming starts, the Rossetti family sends their regards.
00:52An assassin steps through the entrance.
00:54Seven more flow in behind him with guns raised.
00:57His voice carries the boredom of a man delivering a bill.
01:00The party is over.
01:01Dad moves fast, the pistol already out.
01:03He pulls me behind him through the chaos.
01:06Bodyguards close around us, one by one, they fall.
01:09Each death swallowed by gunfire.
01:11We reach the back door.
01:12Glenn, Julian, Norman.
01:15Then Dad's leg box.
01:16He goes down on one leg, we grab for him.
01:18He shuts us off.
01:19He stands tall on one leg, slams the door shut with a shot.
01:24Take Julian, get him out.
01:27No, Dad!
01:28That's an order, son.
01:29I stare at his face and memorize it.
01:31No, that's what I'm doing.
01:32He unclasps the ice wolf crest and presses it into my phone.
01:36The Orsini family is yours now.
01:39Can I count on you?
01:40My fingers close tight.
01:41Of course, Dad.
01:42He's my full, real...
01:43You picked the wrong day to fuck with a father.
01:47Norman grabs my wrist.
01:49We run.
01:49I look back.
01:50Dad falls, rises, falls again.
01:52Drags himself across the floor to seize an assassin's ankles with the last of his strength.
01:56The assassin looks down at the man, gripping him with cold curiosity.
01:59Presses the gun on Dad's head.
02:00Hold the blood.
02:02Carry the name.
02:04Norman's hand cuts off my scream.
02:05The car smells of blood and engine oil.
02:07I press against the back window and watch the estate shrink.
02:10Gunfire thins.
02:11Then silence.
02:12Only my breathing and the blood drying my face.
02:14Norman's eyes find mine in the rearview mirror.
02:16Go to Pablo's.
02:18We have people there.
02:19I wipe my face with the back of my hand.
02:21Jaw tight enough to crack.
02:22The Orsini family.
02:24I'll kill every last one of you.
02:26I'll avenge my father.
02:27I promise.
02:29To hold the blood, I carry the name.
02:32Pablo's Bar.
02:32Kitchen smells.
02:33Grease.
02:34Garlic.
02:34Mob water.
02:35I move through it fast.
02:36Stuffing supplies into a backpack.
02:38At the corridor entrance, a girl appears.
02:40Twelve years old.
02:41Quick eyes.
02:41Dressed too well for this place.
02:43She presses herself into the doorframe's shadow.
02:45Convinced she's invisible.
02:46Miss Rosetta.
02:47Time to leave.
02:48A man's voice calls from the corridor.
02:50She flattens against the wall.
02:52Holds her breath.
02:52She slips into the kitchen.
02:54And walks directly into me.
02:55We both startle backward.
02:56We say it together, then stare.
02:58Who are you?
02:59Who are you?
03:00Her eyes drop to the blood on my head.
03:02The bravado softens into something unguarded.
03:05Are you okay?
03:06You're bleeding.
03:07Not your problem.
03:09Excuse me?
03:10Do you even know who you're talking to?
03:13My hand moves to the dagger at my side.
03:15Who are you?
03:16If someone finds out who you are, we'll be in real trouble.
03:21My name is Mary.
03:22My eyes move over her face.
03:24Are you a Rosani?
03:25What if I am?
03:28My fingers tighten on the dagger.
03:30I just escaped from their manin.
03:32They kept me locked up there forever.
03:34They even lock up girls, I think.
03:36Those bastards.
03:37I let go of the dagger.
03:39Don't follow me.
03:40It's dangerous.
03:42At least let me...
03:43The kitchen erupts.
03:45Gunshots.
03:46Plural.
03:46Close.
03:47I sprint for the rear.
03:48The girl freezes as stray bullets chew through the walls.
03:51And then I'm spinning back, grabbing her hand, pulling her with me.
03:54Two assassins burst in behind us.
03:56I put myself between her and the door.
03:58A reflex.
03:59I feel the bullet hit my shoulder like a hammer.
04:01I stagger.
04:02Keep moving.
04:03Hit the storage room door with my good shoulder and wedge my weight against it.
04:07In the stumbling half second of turning, I bump into her and our lips meet.
04:11An accident.
04:13One second of wide eyes and stunned silence.
04:16I shove the rack against the door.
04:18The girl jumps in to help.
04:20You've been shot.
04:21Bullets punch through the wood.
04:23Run.
04:24They're after me, not you.
04:26I'm not leaving you behind.
04:28She drags me toward the window.
04:29And I catch a flash at the back of her neck as she turns.
04:32White.
04:32Birthmark shaped.
04:33A bird with its wings spread.
04:35Then her hair falls back and covers it.
04:36We reach the window.
04:37She helps me onto the sill.
04:39Come on, give me your hand.
04:40She hesitates.
04:41Then pulls out a card.
04:42Black on one side.
04:43The other shimmering with faint blue patterns.
04:45Take this.
04:46There's a safe house at the location marked on it.
04:48How do you even...
04:49No time.
04:50Go.
04:51I came with my uncle.
04:52He'll protect me.
04:53She slides a bracelet off her wrist.
04:55A child's thing.
04:55Rubber and colored beads.
04:57She fastens it around my wrist with quick, careful fingers.
05:00We'll meet again, right?
05:02Our fingertips almost touch through the gap.
05:04Then she pushes my hand away and slams the window shut.
05:07One last look through the glass.
05:08Her face.
05:09Eyes bright.
05:09Mouth set.
05:10And I run.
05:11One day I think.
05:12Feet hitting paper.
05:12I'll find you again.
05:13I promise.
05:16Fifteen years later, I stand alone at the edge of it.
05:18Twenty-seven now.
05:19The boy who ran from this family with a dead father's crest and a stranger's bracelet has
05:24become something harder.
05:25Boss.
05:26All Rosenni present today.
05:29Eliminated.
05:30Good.
05:31Share the seized property with our men.
05:32Norman leaves.
05:34My hand moves without thinking to my wrist.
05:36Mary.
05:37I think.
05:38Or should I call you Phoenix?
05:40I finally avenged my family.
05:42Where are you now?
05:43Norman returns with a woman between several men.
05:46Maggie Rosetti.
05:47Twenty-four.
05:48Beautiful.
05:48The way certain fires are beautiful.
05:50Bright.
05:51Dangerous.
05:51Command.
05:52She walks as though the men escorting her are doing her a favor.
05:55Something falls from her wrist.
05:56She catches it before it touches the dirty.
05:58Wipes it clean.
05:59Holds it.
06:00Her face was perfectly still.
06:01As if knowing this would be her last day.
06:03I draw my gun and walk toward her.
06:05Maggie Rosetti looks at the gun.
06:06Looks at the man holding it.
06:08Does not blink.
06:09Close your eyes.
06:11Can't kill me while I'm looking at you?
06:13I raise the gun.
06:14Press the barrel to her forehead.
06:15Our eyes meet across that terrible distance.
06:18Cold metal between us.
06:19Her gaze doesn't drop.
06:20Her hand trembles at her side while her face shows nothing.
06:23I pull back the hammer and do not hold the trigger.
06:25Godfather Burke hops and moves through the carnage with the elegance of a man who has never hurried in his
06:30life.
06:31Enough.
06:31White-haired, impeccably dressed, cane-tapping, blood-soaked ground.
06:36I lower the gun.
06:38My Godfather.
06:39Enough is enough, Julian.
06:41Never go too far.
06:43This is my revenge.
06:44It's not enough.
06:45I raise the gun now.
06:47Burke's hand comes down and I'm pressing it slowly down.
06:50She's about to be your wife.
06:51You wouldn't hurt your own wife, right?
06:54What?
06:54Maggie and I say it together.
06:56What?
06:56Then stare at each other.
06:57Two people who spent 15 years on opposite sides of a war.
07:01Standing in its graveyard, being told they'll share a bed.
07:04Your families have destroyed the city.
07:06The only way this feud ends for good is marriage.
07:10My gun hand stays very still.
07:12Burke's men settle into readiness.
07:14Mine mirrored.
07:15My men just came out of a battle.
07:17This isn't the time.
07:18I produce a smile that almost convinces.
07:20Of course, Godfather.
07:21I cross to Maggie and pull her into my arms.
07:24She goes rigid.
07:26You guys.
07:26She breathes against my shoulder.
07:28You're sick.
07:29Burke smiles.
07:30I think you'll enjoy your marriage.
07:36Burke leaves.
07:37Norman News close.
07:38He's keeping you in check, boss.
07:40How long do we let this go on?
07:44I've got plans for him.
07:45No rush.
07:47I walk toward Maggie.
07:48Something in my face shifts.
07:50I signaled them to leave and close the door.
07:52My hand finds her throat.
07:53Don't think you're getting away with anything.
07:55I have plenty of ways to torture you.
07:58I release her and walk away.
07:59I didn't look back.
08:00That evening, I stand alone in my rooms
08:02and look at a wedding dress.
08:03I commissioned it years ago.
08:05Never told anyone one.
08:06Phoenix.
08:07I had this made for you.
08:09Waiting for you to come back.
08:10Still nothing?
08:12We've searched the whole city.
08:13No girl with a white Phoenix birthmark.
08:16Keep looking.
08:18She's the only one I've ever loved.
08:19The door opens.
08:21Elizabeth Gilbert, my childhood friend.
08:22Achingly beautiful.
08:24Strategically persistent.
08:26Sees the dress and lights up.
08:27Julian, I knew you'd marry me.
08:29You've always been like a sister to me.
08:32I'm marrying Maggie Rosaudi.
08:33Elizabeth's smile stayed on her face
08:35until the door clicked shut.
08:37I stood alone with the dress.
08:38I didn't know then what that smile had been covered.
08:41In the garden, I stand at the altar in a black suit,
08:44wearing the face of a man at his own execution.
08:47He looks like he's at a funeral.
08:49Shut up.
08:49The bride's a Rosaudi.
08:51At least try to look less miserable.
08:53Norman appears at my shoulder.
08:56Just thinking about that Rosaudi woman.
08:58Makes me want to throw up.
08:59I found a nearby glass in one swallow.
09:01The bride is here!
09:03I look up.
09:04Maggie walks into the garden, and the world goes still.
09:06She wears the dress as if it was built around her.
09:09Jewels catching light in every direction.
09:10Dark hair loose beneath the white veil.
09:12I stare, and something happens to my expression I can't control.
09:15My mind suddenly flashed back to that kitchen.
09:18Fifteen years ago.
09:19Quick eyes and a rubber bracelet.
09:22Phoenix?
09:23The word comes out before I can stop it.
09:24I step forward.
09:25Is that you?
09:26Maggie steps back, eyebrows climbing.
09:29Are you out of your mind?
09:31I snap back to the present.
09:32Then my eyes drop to the dress.
09:35How dare you wear this?
09:38It's the wedding dress I prepared for my only love.
09:41Take it off.
09:42Now.
09:44Maggie looks at Sally.
09:45She handed it to me.
09:47Boss, she's lying.
09:49She insisted on trying it on.
09:51Liar.
09:51You said it was for me.
09:52Elizabeth materializes you.
09:55She only wanted to wear it to please you.
09:58Classic Rosoni.
09:59Maggie looks from Sally to Elizabeth.
10:01Something in her expression crystalline.
10:02I see.
10:04You two snakes.
10:05She turns to me and chin up.
10:07Don't flatter yourself.
10:09I'm the Rosoni heiress.
10:10I've worn better dresses than this.
10:12She reaches up and is tearing it off her own body.
10:14The garden that rubs, gasps from every direction.
10:17I go still for exactly one second.
10:19Then grab her.
10:20Throw her over my shoulder.
10:21And carry her the length of the garden to the altar.
10:23With the grim efficiency of a man who has committed to something.
10:26I deposit her in front of the priest.
10:27Do your thing.
10:29Today, we gather before God.
10:31I do.
10:32I shoot Maggie a little.
10:33Like I have a choice?
10:34She rolls her eyes.
10:35I do.
10:35You may now kiss the bride.
10:37I'd have to be in the room.
10:39I grab her wrist.
10:40I bring her to my bedroom.
10:41Lay her on the bed.
10:42And I begin carefully removing the ruined dress.
10:44My hands steady working fast things.
10:47With a gentleness that has no business being with it.
10:50The air between us had changed.
10:52Neither of us said anything about it.
10:53Trying to act like a gentleman now?
10:55Shut up.
10:56Don't move.
10:57I turn her gently.
10:58Her back to me, her hair falling aside.
11:00And reach to lift it from her neck.
11:04Maggie turns.
11:06She faces me and presses her palm flat to my chest, pushing.
11:09I'll take the rest off myself.
11:11Wait outside.
11:11How can she be Phoenix?
11:13I pull myself back from something I don't want to examine.
11:15I look at her face instead.
11:17At the smudged lipstick at the corner of her mouth.
11:19I reach out and rub it away with my thumb without thinking.
11:21This whole house belongs to me.
11:24My fingers find the hem of the dress and pull.
11:26It comes away.
11:27The air between us holds a charge.
11:28Neither of us moves to discharge.
11:30What are you doing?
11:32I'll do whatever I want.
11:34Like I said, I'm gonna make you suffer.
11:38I push her toward the mirror.
11:39Both of us reflected.
11:40Her wide eyes like dark ones.
11:43Look at yourself.
11:44I want you to see yourself humiliated.
11:47Julian.
11:50You are such a bastard.
11:52My mouth comes down on hers.
11:53Brutal first.
11:54A punishment.
11:55And then the pressure softens.
11:56Changes.
11:57Becomes something that has no place in this room.
11:59I breathe against her mouth.
12:00Her lips tremble.
12:01Her lashes drop.
12:02A single tear escapes.
12:04Her eyes close.
12:05Her expression said what she wouldn't.
12:06I learned later that something had shattered in Elizabeth's room.
12:09Whatever she and Marsha planned in the dark,
12:11they kept it between themselves.
12:13I sit alone in my office,
12:14bracelet running through my fingers.
12:15The dress.
12:16Store it in the vault.
12:18Until the day I find Phoenix.
12:19What about Maggie?
12:21Something moves across my face.
12:23Send her food.
12:24I don't want her to die that easily.
12:26The door bursts open.
12:27Elizabeth frantic.
12:28Julian.
12:29The access card you gave me.
12:31It's missing.
12:32My hand comes down on the desk like a gunshot.
12:34What?
12:36Maggie wakes to bite marks.
12:38And the sound of her own voice saying,
12:40What an animal.
12:41Marsha delivers breakfast with a professional smile.
12:44And on the way out,
12:45lets a black access card drop to the floor.
12:47The drop deliberate.
12:48Made to look accidental.
12:50Maggie finds it.
12:51Flips it over.
12:51Flash.
12:52The kitchen.
12:53A boy with blood on his face.
12:55Her own hands pressing the card.
12:57The other side shimmering with faint blue patterns.
13:01Wait.
13:03Isn't this...
13:03The door crashes open.
13:04Me and Norman Elizabeth guards.
13:07My eyes find the card in her hand and go hard.
13:10Snatch it.
13:11So it really was you.
13:12How dare you steal this.
13:14If this card is the same one I gave that card.
13:16She was staring at my face now.
13:18And something in her expression had gone very still.
13:20Then she reaches me.
13:21We struggle.
13:22The card falls.
13:23Maggie drops to the floor after.
13:24Fingers closing around the edge.
13:26I just need to confirm one thing.
13:28I look down at her.
13:29Flash.
13:29A girl on a kitchen floor.
13:31Fifteen years gone.
13:32Looking up at me with those same eyes.
13:34In the half second of my stunned hesitation.
13:36Maggie flips the card.
13:37Red.
13:38The pattern is red.
13:39Not.
13:39She stares.
13:40The confirmation is all pain.
13:42It's a wonder.
13:42Whatever she was thinking.
13:43She buried it before she died.
13:45I take the card back.
13:46This is the Orsini Arsenal Access Card.
13:48What were you planning?
13:49I picked it up off the floor.
13:51I don't even know what it is.
13:53Elizabeth materialized.
13:54This is all my fault, Julian.
13:58Take her to the dungeon.
14:00It's time she learns how savage we are.
14:03As they drag Maggie out,
14:04I catch Elizabeth and Marcia
14:06exchanging a slow, triumphant smile
14:08aimed at Maggie over my shoulder.
14:10I filed her away and said nothing.
14:12The dungeon is cold.
14:13They equip the instruments
14:14that announce their purpose without explanation.
14:16Are you serious?
14:18Maggie looks at normal.
14:18What is all this?
14:20My advice, don't ask.
14:22The more you know,
14:23the more scared you get.
14:24He reaches for a barbed whip.
14:26I came down to check on her.
14:27I still don't know
14:28what I told myself the reason was.
14:30Through the door,
14:31I could hear voices.
14:32Elizabeth's.
14:33The sound of boots.
14:34Something hitting a wall.
14:36I wasn't there for all of it.
14:38I learned afterward in pieces.
14:41Norman had left her alone.
14:43She'd found a knife.
14:44Elizabeth and two men
14:45had come down before I arrived.
14:46The scene I walked into.
14:48Knife gone.
14:49Men caught mid-motion.
14:50Maggie's arms pinned.
14:52Was already in its final act.
14:54Mr. Orsani is here.
14:56I come through the door.
14:58The men stop.
14:59Step back.
15:00Elizabeth moves instantly.
15:01Grabs the fallen knife.
15:02Presses it to her own arm.
15:04Quick.
15:04Control.
15:05Shallow enough to bleed convincingly.
15:07When I turn,
15:08Elizabeth is already performing victimhood.
15:10It was an accident.
15:11Julian.
15:13Don't blame Maggie.
15:15Are you out of your mind?
15:17How could you hurt Elizabeth?
15:18My hand comes up.
15:19I was going to slap her.
15:21I didn't.
15:22She watches it coming and doesn't flinch.
15:24It stops.
15:25A breath from her cheek.
15:26I stare at her swollen face.
15:28The mark's already there.
15:29My fist trembles.
15:30I don't even want to touch you.
15:32I watched Maggie look at Elizabeth and Marsha.
15:34Something in her face changed.
15:36Not defeat.
15:36Something past it.
15:37And past caring.
15:39Fine.
15:40I wish I had stabbed her.
15:42And stabbed deep enough to finish the job.
15:45I grab her.
15:46Close enough that she feels the heat of my anger.
15:51Unbelievable.
15:53Say one more word.
15:54Or what?
15:55You're pathetic.
15:57You can't even tell who's lying.
16:00Elizabeth, the fine woman.
16:01She won't lie to me.
16:04And I'm a vicious bitch.
16:06So what are you going to do about it, my dear husband?
16:09I go absolutely still.
16:11Don't call me that.
16:13Everyone, out!
16:15Elizabeth draws a finger across her own throat on her way past the door and smiles.
16:19The dungeon holds only the two of us and the instruments.
16:22I grab Maggie, cuff her wrists, rip open the back of her clothing.
16:25I raise the whip.
16:26She rolls.
16:27It cracks against a stone where she did.
16:29You sick bastard!
16:31A decent family wouldn't torture women!
16:33I grab the back of her neck and drive her down to the floor, my knee in her back.
16:37And her hair falls away to one side.
16:39The white phoenix birthmark spreads across the nape of her neck, pale as moonlight.
16:43Exactly as I saw it in a flash of movement in the kitchen 15 years ago.
16:46My hand, holding the whip, stops in midair.
16:49Wait.
16:50That's...
16:52Something in me chooses not to know.
16:54I laugh.
16:55Short.
16:56Bitter.
16:57You even painted a fake one on yourself.
16:59How desperate are you, Maggie?
17:01That's my birthmark.
17:03I was born with it.
17:05Only my phoenix has that mark.
17:08Did you really think this would make me believe you were her?
17:10I'm not pretending to be anyone!
17:13Then don't blame me for what happens next.
17:16I bring the whip down across the birthmark.
17:19Again.
17:20Again.
17:20Maggie screams.
17:22Not from weakness, but because the pain is real and there is no dignity in pretending otherwise.
17:26When I finally stop, the birthmark is torn and bleeding and the hatred in her eyes is ancient.
17:32You're a monster.
17:33You don't deserve love.
17:35If she knew how you loved her, she'd be disgusted.
17:38Shut up!
17:39When I find her again, I'll give her everything!
17:42I hope you never find her.
17:44Better yet, I hope she's dead.
17:47The color leaves my face.
17:48I drop the whip.
17:49My hands find her throat.
17:51She goes still beneath them.
17:52The door crashes open.
17:54Norman.
17:55Breathless.
17:57Boss!
17:57We got Lisa Rosati!
17:59I release her.
18:00Take Maggie and her mother to the backyard.
18:03Execute them both.
18:04Do whatever you want to me, but let my mother go.
18:08You shouldn't have talked about her.
18:10I walk out.
18:11Through it, I heard her throw herself against it.
18:13Heard her scream.
18:14I kept walking.
18:16I stand alone in my bedroom and look at the jeweled dress.
18:20Phoenix, where are you?
18:21I pick up Maggie's belongings, a small box, and toss them into the fireplace.
18:26The lid flips open mid-fall.
18:28Something small and brightly colored spins toward the flames.
18:32I lunge into the fire.
18:33I pull out a bracelet and stare at it.
18:35Then reach into my pocket and pull out my own.
18:38I hold them side by side.
18:40They match.
18:40This is Phoenix bracelet.
18:44Maggie is Phoenix?
18:45The bracelets shake in my hands.
18:47I run through everything, you know, the kitchen, 15 years gone, the girl with quick eyes and
18:52a blue-patterned card, the girl in the dungeon with those same eyes, the birthmark, the bracelet.
18:59Phoenix's name was Mary.
19:01She was a prisoner of the Rosetti family.
19:03I stop.
19:03Oh, I still need her alive!
19:06I run.
19:06The backyard holds a crowd and two disheveled figures at its center.
19:11Maggie sees her mother across the yard, and everything else stops.
19:16Mother!
19:17Lisa Rosati, spine still straight despite the tears, fights toward her daughter.
19:22Fingertips almost touching, Elizabeth steps between them.
19:26Tapes Lisa's as mouth shut.
19:28Hits her again and again while Lisa sobs behind the tape.
19:32Rain starts.
19:34Maggie leans her forehead against her mother's.
19:37I love you, Mom.
19:39Dad's waiting for us on the other side.
19:41Executioners move into position.
19:43Safety clicks off.
19:45Stop!
19:46I come through the crowd at a run, rain plastering my jacket to my shoulders.
19:50I crouch before Maggie and lift her face.
19:54Where did you get that bracelet?
19:57Think carefully.
19:58This is your last chance.
20:00Let us go, and I'll tell you.
20:02Lock them in the dungeon.
20:04I have questions.
20:05Burke Hoban walks into the rain without an umbrella,
20:08which is somehow more more frightening than if he'd had one.
20:10Julian, your wife stole the Arsenal Access card.
20:15I won't sleep easy until she's dead.
20:17My eyes move between my godfather and Maggie's kneeling form.
20:22If Maggie dies, I may never find Phoenix.
20:25Something clicks into place.
20:27I walk to Maggie and lay my hand very gently against her abdomen.
20:32She's pregnant with my child.
20:37The rain comes down.
20:39The yard holds its breath.
20:42What?
20:45Burke's trap has reversed on him.
20:47I watch him realize it.
20:49Fine.
20:50If that's true, Maggie lives.
20:52For now.
20:53Kill him, if you must.
20:55Elizabeth recovers fast.
20:56But kill the mother, at least.
20:57Burke points at Lisa with a smile that has teeth.
21:01Fifteen years ago, the Orsini family was wiped out.
21:05Your father killed.
21:07You had a bullet in your shoulder, didn't you, Julian?
21:10Shot in the shoulder specifically?
21:12Maggie's eyes went wide.
21:13She looked at me, really looked at me,
21:14for what felt like the first time.
21:16Kill Lisa Rossetti.
21:18Avenge your family.
21:19My fist's closed.
21:20I don't move.
21:21He's cornering.
21:22But I can't fight him yet.
21:23I draw my gun and walk toward Lisa.
21:25She was still staring at me as I walked toward Lisa.
21:28I couldn't read what was in her eyes.
21:30Maggie breaks free of convulsive motion
21:32and throws herself in front of her mother.
21:33Don't touch her!
21:34I look down at her face, upturned toward me,
21:36and something moves across my expression.
21:38Too fast to name.
21:40I'm sorry, Lisa Rossetti.
21:42Then, barely a breath.
21:44For Maggie's sake.
21:45In the struggle, my bracelet slips from my pocket and falls,
21:48spinning once in the air
21:49before landing in the dirt directly in front of Maggie's knees.
21:52She stares at her.
21:53I grab the bracelet back before she can reach it,
21:56wipe it clean,
21:56pocket it without looking at her.
21:59I walk to Lisa and position myself beside her.
22:01A glance at Norman, understood.
22:05I pull the trigger.
22:06Lisa drops.
22:08Maggie's scream is something I will fear for a long time.
22:11She tears free and collapses beside her mother,
22:13pressing her hands to the wound.
22:15Mom, please.
22:17Look at me.
22:18I step in, take Maggie's arm, pull her upright.
22:22Maggie's hand finds the knife at my belt.
22:24She drives it into her own chest before anyone can stop her.
22:28Blood pours down her front.
22:29Maggie!
22:32I run.
22:32I run with her in my arms,
22:34through the rain and into the villa,
22:35shouting to the doctor.
22:36Doctor!
22:37Holding her against my chest.
22:39You haven't told me where Phoenix is.
22:43I'm not letting you die.
22:45Night.
22:46Maggie lies in my bed.
22:47I sit beside her and don't move.
22:49She murmurs in her sleep.
22:51Please don't kill my mom.
22:53Slowly, she surfaces.
22:55As her vision cleared,
22:56she looked at me with an expression I couldn't name.
22:59Something layered, complicated,
23:00like she was seeing two things at once.
23:03She grabs me.
23:05You're...
23:05Her voice breaks against my shoulder.
23:07You finally came for me.
23:09I've been waiting for years.
23:12Her face changed.
23:14Something in her eyes went from warmth to horror.
23:16Like she'd remembered everything all at once.
23:18My mom, she...
23:19She comes fully alive.
23:20She shoves me backwards.
23:22It was you!
23:23You killed my mother!
23:25If you want to live, stop.
23:27I'd rather die!
23:28Stop!
23:28There's nothing left for me!
23:30She's still alive.
23:35What?
23:38It was a fake execution.
23:39I had a ceramic vest hidden under her clothing.
23:42She's somewhere safe.
23:44You're serious?
23:46Believe it or not,
23:47but if you don't cooperate,
23:49I've got plenty of ways to make her suffer.
23:51You're a monster.
23:53Tell me.
23:54Where's the real Phoenix?
23:56Maggie looks at the bracelet in my outstretched hand
23:59and makes a decision.
24:00Yeah.
24:01I know her.
24:02Then where is she?
24:03She looks at my face at close range.
24:05Fifteen years of desperation in it.
24:07She makes herself say the horrible words.
24:10The Rasuti family had tons of girls like her.
24:13My father sent them to deal drugs or become prostitutes.
24:16By now, she's probably rotting in some gutter.
24:19My hands close around her throat in a trap.
24:24Shut up!
24:25She's not dead!
24:27Phoenix cannot be dead!
24:29Maggie stays very still with my hands.
24:31Her eyes close.
24:32Her face very quiet says,
24:33We're even.
24:34The pressure releases.
24:35She falls to the floor, gasping.
24:37I stand over her, breathing hard.
24:39I'm not letting you die that easy.
24:42I'm going to break you.
24:43Slowly.
24:45Coward.
24:46You won't kill me because you're too scared.
24:55Lock her in the dungeon.
24:56No food.
24:57No water.
24:59In the dungeon,
25:00Maggie lies on cold stone and stares at the ceiling.
25:03Her mind moves in the patient,
25:05calculating pattern of someone given too much time to think.
25:08The door groans open.
25:09She turns her head.
25:10I stand in the entrance.
25:12Something is wrong with the way I'm standing.
25:14I stumble.
25:14The torchlight catches my face,
25:16unfocused, distant,
25:18the eyes not tracking.
25:19Phoenix.
25:22Phoenix.
25:23Julian.
25:24What the hell are you doing?
25:26Snap out of it!
25:27At lunch, she has nowhere to go.
25:28I crash and pin her to the wall.
25:30My face inches from her.
25:31My eyes glazed and full of 15 years of longer.
25:34I found you.
25:35I finally found you.
25:37I'll never let you go again.
25:40My hands find the back of her dress.
25:42The fabric gives.
25:43Her bare back.
25:44The faint shape of the birthmark beneath my fingers.
25:47Her tears started quietly.
25:49She stops resisting.
25:53Phoenix.
25:54I must have been murmuring her name in my sleep.
25:56Because when I opened my eyes,
25:58she was already awake,
25:59watching me with the dagger raised.
26:01She raises it over.
26:02There's no way out of this.
26:04Julia, let's go to hell together.
26:06She drives me down.
26:08My hand comes up from sleep
26:09and catches the blade with my bare palm.
26:11You crazy bitch!
26:12You're trying to kill me?
26:14I overpower her,
26:15roll her beneath me.
26:17The dagger spins away.
26:18She goes still.
26:19Let's out a sound somewhere between a laugh
26:21and something worse.
26:23Of course I want to kill you.
26:25After everything.
26:26After last night.
26:28Last night I were legally married.
26:30You call this marriage?
26:32You murder my family and lock me in a dungeon?
26:34I was drugged.
26:36So I was just a stand-in for Phoenix?
26:38My hands find her throat.
26:39A reflex.
26:40Don't mention her name.
26:41Do you care about her that much?
26:44Then tell me.
26:45Why'd you sleep with me twice?
26:48I release her and stand.
26:49To torment you.
26:51What's more painful than being used by your enemy?
26:54I turn to the door.
26:55Tell me where Phoenix is or rot.
26:59The door locks.
27:02I hate you.
27:03I'll never let you find Phoenix.
27:05I sit at my desk, fists clenched,
27:07thinking about a birthmark under my fingertips.
27:09Why do I keep mistaking her for Phoenix?
27:11Must have been the drugs.
27:17Norman.
27:18Post a citywide reward.
27:19Half a million for anyone with a lead on the Phoenix birthmark.
27:23I didn't know it at the time.
27:24I pieced it together later.
27:25From what Norman could find out.
27:27Sally had seen the reward sketch.
27:28Had recognized the birthmark.
27:30Had gone to Elizabeth before she could come.
27:32Whatever was said in that conclusion was the same.
27:34Maggie had to die.
27:36What happened in Burke's office?
27:37I wasn't there for them.
27:38What I know, I learned afterward.
27:40Elizabeth and Marsha went to Burke with forged documents.
27:43Burke turned through them and his expression darkened with each page.
27:50She's been playing us this whole time.
27:52Where is she?
27:52Rotting in the dungeon.
27:54I'll have her executed.
27:55Wait.
27:55Bring her to me alive.
27:56I'll question her myself.
27:58Armed men flooded the dungeon.
27:59You're suspected of plotting to overthrow the gang.
28:01Maggie was dragged to Burke's office and thrown to the floor.
28:03You contacted the police.
28:05Burke held up the forged docket.
28:06Is this revenge?
28:07Yes.
28:08You forced me into this when you married me off to Julian.
28:11You should have expected it.
28:12Was Julian involved?
28:14No!
28:15I wasn't talking to you.
28:17Julian's the only one with high-level access.
28:19Tell me.
28:20Is he part of this too?
28:22The room was very still.
28:24Maggie looks at the floor.
28:25The silence stretches.
28:26I was the one.
28:27I plotted all of it.
28:28Every move.
28:29Mine.
28:30Burke erupted to his feet.
28:32I did it by myself.
28:33She looked him in the eye.
28:35He stared at her, then laughed.
28:36The Roseni family raised a tough girl.
28:40Admiring, brittle.
28:42Let's try waterboarding.
28:43He glanced at Elizabeth.
28:45The men forced Maggie down.
28:47A bucket of water waited.
28:48Elizabeth crouched to her level, voice almost gentle.
28:51Die with your secret, Phoenix.
28:53Maggie went completely still.
28:57How did you know?
29:00I was in the corridor before I came through the door.
29:03I don't know how long I stood there.
29:05Long enough to hear what she said.
29:08Last chance, Maggie.
29:10Was Julian involved?
29:11Maggie's head came up streaming water.
29:13No.
29:14I did everything alone.
29:16Julian had nothing to do with it.
29:18She went under her.
29:19In the corridor, I stand with my hand on the doorknob.
29:22I hear her protect me with her last breath.
29:23I feel something in my chest, closed like a fist.
29:26Could it really be her?
29:28I have to save her.
29:29The doors slam open.
29:30I come through them like a detonation.
29:33Three men down before the others register it.
29:39And then I'm at her side, hauling her out of the water,
29:41pulling her soaking and gasping into my arms.
29:44Godfather.
29:44I look across the room at Bert.
29:45Don't you think you should have told me before trying to kill my wife?
29:48She colluded with the police.
29:50Traitors must be purged.
29:52Maggie is carrying my child.
29:54She's under constant surveillance.
29:56How exactly would she have conspired with anyone?
29:58Burke scowls.
30:01Then smiles.
30:03Two doctors then.
30:04Confirm the pregnancy.
30:06I raise my right hand.
30:08If she's not pregnant, I'll cut this hand off myself.
30:11Elizabeth steps back, visibly unsteady.
30:14The doctor performs the scan.
30:17Congratulations, Julian.
30:18You're going to be a father.
30:19Every face in the room performs a different one.
30:24I'm really pregnant?
30:28It's impossible!
30:30She must have slept with someone else!
30:32My slap is precise and funny.
30:34Stop spouting nonsense.
30:37Burke leaves.
30:38I carry Maggie out of the room, the crowd partying without being asked.
30:43I didn't look back at Elizabeth.
30:44Whatever was on her face, I didn't want to see it.
30:47I heard later that she'd given Marcia instructions that night.
30:51Maggie wakes in the morning to me, carrying a tray.
30:54Soup, fragrant and hot.
30:55Drink this.
30:56She turns her head away.
30:57I catch her chin and press the bullet to her lips.
31:00Are you insane?
31:01You should be grateful!
31:03Grateful?
31:03You really think I'll carry your child to term?
31:06I go white.
31:10Your mother is still in my custody.
31:12If you don't eat, Lisa and me won't get a drop of water.
31:15Maggie goes still.
31:19Then moves.
31:20The knife from under her pillow.
31:22Driving it toward her own stomach.
31:24I lunge across the bed and catch her wrist.
31:27The knife clatters away.
31:28The soup shatters.
31:30Have you lost your mind?
31:32Why won't you just let me die?
31:34She beats at my chest.
31:35Weak, but relentless.
31:36I hold still and let her hit me and have no answer.
31:38When that baby is born, I'll make you watch me ruin it.
31:42That'll be your punishment.
31:44She slaps me across the face.
31:46I grab her throat and press her back into the mattress.
31:50Then a voice from the doorway.
31:52Sir, please stop.
31:54Maggie and...
31:56I pause.
31:57I look at Sally in the door.
31:58His what?
31:59Sally hesitates.
32:00Phynex cares, right?
32:02The name lands like a key in a lock.
32:04I go still.
32:05I step back.
32:07I produce a handwritten letter for my coat and toss it at Maggie.
32:10She catches it, hands shaking.
32:12Her mother's handwriting.
32:14If the baby lives, your mother lives.
32:17Something happens to the baby.
32:19Your mother dies too.
32:22I turn to Sally.
32:23Take care of her.
32:24I walk out.
32:26I didn't know they were in the corridor, listening.
32:28I found out later.
32:29By then, they'd already decided what to do about Sally.
32:33That night, this is what Norman told me afterward.
32:36Sally had seen the birthmark.
32:38She pinned Maggie's hair up, lifted it away from her neck, and there it was.
32:42Sally's hands went still.
32:43She reached for her phone.
32:44I sweep pens off my desk.
32:47Fifteen years!
32:48Not a single lead!
32:51I found Phoenix.
32:54Are you sure?
32:55Where?
32:56I've double-checked.
32:57Phoenix is...
32:58The door explodes open.
32:59Elizabeth grabs Sally and throws her to the floor.
33:02How dare you come to Julian before me?
33:04I'll tell him where Phoenix is!
33:06I step forward.
33:07Elizabeth?
33:08You found Phoenix?
33:10Her eyes fill with tears.
33:11I worked so hard to find her, Julian.
33:14Can you forgive me?
33:16Where is Phoenix?
33:17Elizabeth glances toward the doorway.
33:19Come in, Mary.
33:21A woman in white enters.
33:23Her eyes find mine, with the specific quality of tears held back for exactly this moment.
33:28You told me to wait for you.
33:29I stare at her.
33:30But I never thought it would be fifteen years.
33:32I lift her hair.
33:33A white Phoenix birthmark.
33:35Exactly.
33:35Oh my god.
33:36I finally found you.
33:39Behind me, Sally looks at the back of the woman's neck.
33:43The color leaves her face entirely.
33:46Mr. Orsani!
33:47She's lying!
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